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Providencia is part of the barrio alto I think and it is next to Las Condes but the two are quite different. Las Condes is more relaxed. When you walk about on the pavement in Providencia, there is often tons of foot traffic. However, once you get away from that main central bit a lot of it is quite nice and calms down quite a bit. Both of them are generally considered nice places to live but Las Condes is quieter. I think a generation or two Providencia probably housed a lot of the elite of Santiago but as the city expanded many of them moved further to the North East. I think I read about that in an Isabel Allende book.

Keep in mind the traffic in Providencia and Las Condes major routes can be awful, but the main road going through Centro is often suprisingly quiet, even in rush hour and probably easy ish to commute to Maipu.

Ñuñoa I've only ever been a few times and mostly driven through it. I think it has the rep of being not quite the best area but not one of the mediocre either. Somewhere in between. La Reina and Peñalolén possibly fall in to this category. Parts of Ñuñoa have that vaguely empty wasteland feel that some areas of a city have, I am not sure if you know what I mean. But it's probably nicer once you get away from the main streets?

The basic rules go something like this:

1. The further East the better. Quality of life (and price) generally improves to the East.

2. Within the Eastern sections, the more to the North East to the better, South East not as good. Starting in the south east, La Florida is relatively mediocre and then it gets better and better as you move up to the North East through Peñalolén, La Reina, Las Condes and to Vitacura.

3. There is nowhere that stands out as particularly good anywhere in the south, west or north (when I say north here I am not including the north east and the dividing line between the two I can say is the Cerro San Cristobal).

Mind you, don't expect Las Condes to blow your mind, either. This is Chile, remember. It is still a developing country. I have seen 10 places in the US just as good as Las Condes. It would be just a slightly above average town/suburb if it were in the US.

If you don't feel too strongly one way or the other you can let your wife decide it for you both. I seem to recall someone posting on this forum once "happy wife, happy life."

However re shops and groceries...anywhere you choose is going to have shops and supermarkets, anywhere you live will be fine for food shopping, malls etc. But you want something slightly more specialist, the barrio alto wins out. For example a few months ago I bought a winter-rated sleeping bag and trekking trousers with zip pockets. I went to the barrio alto for that. I am not sure if you would find things like that easily in Maipu (I could be wrong).

I am not wildly excited about the centre of Maipu. I actually haven't been there for a year or two, but the centre was a bit mediocre. Every time I drove there I (or someone) seemed to get beeped at about 0.2 seconds after the traffic light changed to green whereas in Las Condes they will at least give you a second or two before doing that.

You have got to be a bit careful about this generic advice because as with many cities often there are mediocre places about a hundred yards from good ones.

Few points.
Even though I don't think the air quality is as bad as others might say, I still would not run 8 miles in winter anywhere near the centre nor in Maipu. Perhaps in Cerro San Cristobal, but I don't think there is a lot of apartments in the vicinity.
Nuñoa is decent middle class for most parts, but not all parts have metro nor the best infrastructure, causing traffic jams.

As I think you have heard from others, Nuñoa is middle class and could be more like what you are looking for. There are lousy parts and good parts, which are easily recognised. I own a few apartments , located in Nunoa, Providencia, and El Golf. The location of the Nunoa one, is close to the existing and the new metro lines, a good mall, and about say 250m from Vespucio Sur, where you could join and continue with the expressway to Maipu. It’s not where you would want to rent a house as they tend to be old, but for apartments, yes, there are some lovely ones and the rents are far lower than Las Condes and Providencia. Providencia , as others have said, is not at all convenient if you plan to use a car, as its hell to get in and out of. Its very handy though if you are north of Av Providencia , for you to do your running along the river and Costanera South. As an example on rents, in Nunoa a one bedroom, 40sqm , with garage and store room is 330000 plus gastos comunes about 50000. In Providencia, a one bedroom , 36 sqm , no garage, no storeroom is 330000, and with garage and store room 100000 more. Gastos comunes 75000. A pretty big difference.
I’m retired and if you are down here in Feb , I’d be pleased to show you around . I have also got to know very well, an estate agent who has worked very well with me on buying and renting apartments, who I could also recommend in your search for a rental. Just send me a PM,

As I think you have heard from others, Nuñoa is middle class and could be more like what you are looking for. There are lousy parts and good parts, which are easily recognised. I own a few apartments , located in Nunoa, Providencia, and El Golf. The location of the Nunoa one, is close to the existing and the new metro lines, a good mall, and about say 250m from Vespucio Sur, where you could join and continue with the expressway to Maipu. It’s not where you would want to rent a house as they tend to be old, but for apartments, yes, there are some lovely ones and the rents are far lower than Las Condes and Providencia. Providencia , as others have said, is not at all convenient if you plan to use a car, as its hell to get in and out of. Its very handy though if you are north of Av Providencia , for you to do your running along the river and Costanera South. As an example on rents, in Nunoa a one bedroom, 40sqm , with garage and store room is 330000 plus gastos comunes about 50000. In Providencia, a one bedroom , 36 sqm , no garage, no storeroom is 330000, and with garage and store room 100000 more. Gastos comunes 75000. A pretty big difference.
I’m retired and if you are down here in Feb , I’d be pleased to show you around . I have also got to know very well, an estate agent who has worked very well with me on buying and renting apartments, who I could also recommend in your search for a rental. Just send me a PM,

Hmmm, Paladin, In a middle class city such as Nuñoa, a 40 sqm with garage and store room for arounds US$550 per months is pretty affordable in any meaning. When you say a garage for car/bike, is it concealed with rolling down/up door system preventing passerby naked eye? Or is it an open painted rectangular space parking space.?

Hybridambassador. When I said garage, it implied a parking place in a secure underground garage, with entrance via a remote control. The other apartments I have are with the same system. Personally, I think if you are someone looking for a decent size apartment, in a relatively new building, close to all amenities, you cant go wrong with the better part of Nunoa. Pricewise its far better than say Providencia, but certainly where I have an apartment , on a quiet street, 2 small blocks from Manuel Montt metro and all the trendy cafes etc in that area, people are prepared to pay far more and for less space. Its a very different market , and many dont want a place with parking as they prefer their bike or metro.

i keep coming across a lot of people who say, the north eastern part of Santiago is safer compared to other places.
And it seems like a lot of people say that nunoa is an ideal location to live.

If i am not wrong, nunoa is located to south east of santiago. Hopefully i am right
Considering the location, is nunoa a much safer place down there?

I live in Puente Alto (far south east) as a gringo and I survive

I do speak Chilean though so that obviously helps.
Also my job schedule is flexible so the distance doesn't bother me as much.

I don't want to scare you but keep in mind that since it's known that the NorthEast (the "sector oriente") is where the upper and upper middle class live, there are bouts of crime affecting people who have money or are perceived to have money, in particular car jackings.

It would of course be false to say that in a place where I live (such as Puente Alto) there is no crime, but I think it's a different type of criminal activity and not as high profile as someone who puts a weapon (usually hand gun) in your face to steal your Audi........the crime in other parts of Santiago might see commercial targets as more lucrative, for example.

All of this may influence where you'd want to live since it could depend on whether or not you would drive to most places (for example if you don't own a car, car jackings obviously won't affect you, but living in more residential parts of Las Condes or Ñuñoa would not be convenient if you have to walk everywhere).

Also in general it's good to get to know a specific neighborhood, as someone said here before, the quality of your environment almost anywhere in greater Santiago can vary drastically just within a few blocks, regardless of what municipality you are in.